Tribesman

Wenger favourite for Bayern Munich job. Barcelona will apparently sack Valverde at the end of the season.

If there is one player Man United should go for its Haaland at Salzburg. I think lots of clubs will be desperate to sign him next summer.

I reckon they will let Valverde see out the season and then try and get Erik Ten Hag though Bayern Munich will likely want him as well. They need to just get rid now - try Xavi until season end and take it from there They need to do what Ajax did - clean up everything from top to bottom - get the ex players in Is Xavi any good as a manager?

How did Promes do at Sevilla? He has been great for Ajax since going there.

I reckon they will let Valverde see out the season and then try and get Erik Ten Hag though Bayern Munich will likely want him as well.

The biggest problem I have with VAR is that nobody knows why a decision has been made. In rugby and yes I know people are tired of the comparisons with rugby, but at least the players, managers and fans in the stadium or watching on tv know why the officials have come to their decision. Referees in football are protected too much in football and need to be held to account for their decisions. That said I would get rid of VAR now. It was meant to fix clear and obvious errors yet its failing badly at this job. I'm all for more technology to improve the game, but VAR is not taking the game forward. I don't buy the notion that things were fine before VAR was involved, the officials need help we just need to find more practical solutions. I'm curious to know if VAR is having the same issues in other leagues like in the Premier League.

Klopp is spot on when he says there is too much football to be played. He made a great point the other day by the fact its stupid there is another Copa America next year.

The Times are reporting Arsenal have been talking to Mourinho about replacing Emery. If that's the type of manager they are looking for they might as well go for Allegri. It doesn't seem a good fit to me if it does happen. One of the good things Emery has done is bring some young talent into the first team, there chances would be limited more under Mourinho. Its not the right club for Mourinho either, he needs to do what Benitez did and go to a club like Newcastle where will he not be under much pressure and be loved after every win.

Even though the quality of the leagues declines, I much prefer when the big teams are having poor seasons and are dragged down to everyone elses level. Matches are more entertaining, they mean more and there is the possibility of someone like Borussia Monchengladbach winning a league title.

Norwich look the biggest certainties to be relegated. They can't defend and the goals from Pukki have dried up. I think Newcastle are then the most likely. Forwards can't score and Bruce is just not convincing at all even when the team plays well. Then I reckon will come down to Watford, Southampton, Villa and maybe another team which will plummet in the 2nd half of the season. Its not the big relegation scrap like the last few seasons only a handful of teams I can realistically getting relegated.

I’d be very surprised if Norwich survive. Bottom 3 at present going to have to go some to stay up. Norwich struggling like mad to keep players fit and can’t defend. We’re utterly s**** as are Watford. Sheffield Utd will be there or thereabouts too as they look pretty toothless. Watford are the most likely of the current bottom 3 to stay up just because I think the quality of players they have in midfield and up front.

I can't see Newcastle staying up with Bruce as manager. He is out of his depth at this level then there is the fact a solid defence last season is now leaking lots of goals, there is not enough quality in centre midfield and there is not enough goals in the team as well. Even if Newcastle sacked Bruce this week they would probably just replace with someone like Moyes who was someone Ashley wanted I think when McClaren was sacked. If the club does get relegated then I hope its one of those humiliating relegations like Villa a few years ago because the last two relegations have been close run things where then some people point at missed chances like de Jong against Villa years ago as to why the club got relegated.

Dortmund need to sack Favre. They are not going to win the Bundesliga with him in charge.

Premier League clubs have finally realised that hiring pfms as managers is not in their clubs best interest anymore except for Newcastle even Championship clubs are looking to hire more progressive and forward thinking managers. A few years ago the likes of Pulis, Hughes and Pardew would be back in another job fairly quickly, but fewer clubs are panicking and turning to these type of managers now.

Bayern Munich 1-2 Hoffenheim.

So its called duct tape, I have been saying duck tape for years.

Allegri is apparently interested in the Man United job if it becomes available.

Do people not know what duck tape is?

They are getting rid of the League Cup in France. I wonder will they do the same in England. I can see the arguments for and against at the very least they should get rid of the 2nd leg in the semi finals because I just hate 2 legs in cup competitions in general.

Some are long term injuries, but others are small injuries not worth risking to play Man City.

Norwich have their first choice goalkeeper, all their centre backs, first choice right back, a few midfielders and their back up striker all injured for their match against Man City today. I'm probably reading too much into it, but I have been noticing a lot of teams throughout Europe picking up lots of injuries at this early stage of the season. Is it too early to say players are playing too much football and there needs to be less matches?

From what I read about Joelinton from his time at Hoffenheim he seemed more suitable to being a Perez replacement rather than playing the target man role like Rondon did last season. However, because Bruce could only complement him on his size and strength when he first signed its probably no surprise Bruce is using him for a role he just can't play. He has never been a prolific goal scorer, but there is probably potential there however, we will never see that potential because Bruce is one of the last managers you want getting the best out of a young talent. I can guarantee you if someone like Hasenhuttl or Gracia was in charge of this team then you would see a better player in Joelinton. I kind of feel sorry for him to be honest. Because he cost £40 million there is an expectation for him to score loads of goals, to win matches on his own and to shoot the club to safety. He is new to this league and country, but has no time to adapt because the pressure is already on him to be the main man. Last week it was mentioned Bruce wanted Carroll to be Joelintons mentor, but what is he going to learn from someone he can't communicate with and spends most of his time on the injury table. The perfect mentor for Joelinton would have been Rondon who is a professional on and off the pitch. The pressure would instantly be off Joelintons shoulders because everyone could rely on Rondon to lead the line and you could even have the luxury of having Joelinton start matches from the bench until he settles in. This is what Arsenal appear to be doing with Pepe. He also has a big price tag on his head and there is an expectation of him being a big player for them. However like Joelinton he might need time to adapt to a new league and country, but because Arsenal have Aubameyang and Lacazette up front, Emery has the luxury of putting Pepe on the bench until he is ready to start matches regularly because Emery knows he can rely on two experienced forwards to beat Newcastle and Burnley. Newcastle just don't care about these important details which are more likely to help make a profit on players like Joelinton than what they are trying to do now. A club policy of only buying players because of their resale value rather than how they fit into a teams system never works, we have seen from the McClaren era it doesn't work. It doesn't benefit Ashley in terms of profit, it doesn't benefit the team in getting results and it doesn't help a young player reach their potential. Yet the club insist on doing it this way and once again it will to relegation.

It will probably be the Bournemouth match in November which will lead to Bruce getting sacked at the earliest. It was McClaren's last match in charge as well.

There is talk of Real Madrid loaning Jovic out already. I'm not sure how true the report is, but I would be pissed off if was a Frankfurt fan if it did happen.

I mentioned this a few weeks ago, but compared to other Premier League clubs Newcastle has a small number of staff running the club so the money isn't going there. We don't spend a lot in transfers or wages. We haven't spent it on training ground improvements and the academy. We haven't spent much on stadium improvements. The only conclusion I can make is that Ashley is taking money to spend on other projects outside Newcastle. Some people might say that is just a conspiracy, but we all know from Ashley's recent actions at Sports Direct that he plays by his own rules. This is the 19th richest club in the world. Even if its just a case of running the club by its own means there should be more than enough money to spend big without having to sell our best players and also make improvements to the training ground and academy. The club can spend big when it wants to when they are either desperate to avoid relegation or need to do some pr to take negative attention away from them. Ashley chooses to run the club this way not out of necessity. The club just continues to plead poverty despite earning millions every year. All Ashley does is talk the club down yet never makes any effort to elevate itself to a higher level.